ESL Pro League Season 19 — final did not get enough attention, but overall viewership is growing

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ESL Pro League Season 19 wrapped up in Malta on May 12, leaving fans thrilled with its captivating matches and marking a notable surge in average viewership compared to past two seasons.

ESL Pro League Season 19 teams navigated through a triple-elimination format during the group stage, affording them two chances to recover from missteps. However, even with this margin for error, several esteemed clubs stumbled: Team Falcons, Fnatic, ENCE, Heroic, and Ninjas in Pyjamas fell short of progressing beyond this stage. Noteworthy upsets in the group phase included Astralis triumphing over FaZe Clan, The MongolZ unexpectedly beating Team Falcons and G2 Esports, and Complexity pulling off wins against Heroic and Natus Vincere.

The playoffs delivered a series of gripping matches. For example, FaZe eliminated Natus Vincere, seeking retribution for their loss in the grand final of the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024. The semifinals of ESL Pro League Season 19 were fiercely contested: MOUZ had to mount a comeback against Complexity, and Team Vitality narrowly missed out on the final against Astralis. However, the grand final proved to be rather one-sided: MOUZ breezed past Team Vitality with a commanding 3:0 score, dominating the French team on the final map.

Notably, this marked MOUZ's second consecutive ESL Pro League title. In the final of the 18th season, the team similarly defeated Natus Vincere with a convincing 3:0 victory.

ESL Pro League Season 19 Viewership Statistics

ESL Pro League Season 19 amassed 23.7M Hours Watched, marking a 15% decline compared to the previous season. This drop was primarily attributed to a shorter tournament duration, spanning from 26 to 18 gaming days, and fewer rounds per match, reduced to 13 from 16 (excluding additional rounds). Consequently, the total airtime dwindled from 244 to 153 hours. However, amidst this reduction, the average viewership surged by 35%, leaping from 114.8K to 155K concurrent viewers, signaling a growing interest in the league.

Peak viewership for ESL Pro League Season 19 was reached during the grand final, with 376.8K Peak Viewers tuning in, marking a 33% decline from the previous season. This figure could have been higher had prominent teams like FaZe Clan, Natus Vincere, Team Liquid, or G2 Esports advanced to the final.

Upon conclusion of the group stage, Team Vitality and MOUZ found themselves ranked 14th and 15th, respectively, in terms of average viewership among all tournament participants. This suggests that had any of the aforementioned teams made it to the grand final, the peak online viewership of the tournament would have been substantially higher.

Comparing Season 19 with its predecessor, there was a noticeable decrease in watch time for Portuguese-language broadcasts, dropping from 29% to 18% of the total. This shift was influenced by the early exits of Brazilian teams FURIA Esports, Imperial Esports, and Sharks Esports, along with the Portuguese team SAW, none of whom progressed to the playoffs. Additionally, there was a marginal redistribution of the audience across platforms, with YouTube's share climbing from 19% to 29% due to multicasting and the inclusion of new channels. Nevertheless, Twitch remained the dominant platform, retaining its preeminent position.

Top seasons of ESL Pro League by Peak Viewers

ESL Pro League Season 19 garnered smaller watch time than previous tournaments in the series, primarily due to changes in the format and reduced airtime. The same trend applies to peak online viewership, which could have been significantly higher if more high-profile opponents had competed in the final. However, average viewership stands out as a more objective metric for comparing tournaments. In this aspect, ESL Pro League Season 19 shows positive trends.